Warriors in Shadows
by Mello Justice
Summary: Sequel to The Princess of Kandrakar. The day after Nerissa is defeated, Princess Natalya and W.I.T.C.H. disband as Guardians and go their seperate ways. One year later, a new threat rises. A new threat that is stronger than Nerissa and Phobos combined.
1. ReUnited

**I'm back! Did ya miss me? Lol. So, this story is set for one year after W.I.T.C.H. and Princess Natalya defeated Nerissa. For those of you who are reading this and haven't read the first story, I suggest you read "The Princess of Kandrakar" first 'cause you are going to be confused. Enough of this very long Authoress's Note. I don't want to keep my peeps/peepettes waiting, so without further ado, here is Chapter 1 of Warriors in Shadows!**

****Disclaimer: I only own Princess Natalya****

**Title: Warriors in Shadows**

**Chapter 1: ReUnited**

**Yan Lin's POV**

Today marks the day that exactly one year ago, the evil sorceress, Nerissa, was defeated by W.I.T.C.H. and Princess Natalya, otherwise known as the Guardians of the Metaworld. After Nerissa was defeated, all of the worlds fell into a time of peace and prosperity. Since they weren't needed, the Guardians went their separate ways. Will went to Fadden Hills to work as a female technician. Irma and Cornelia put aside their differences and opened up a flower shop. Taranee became the proud owner of the Heatherfield Museum and the Sheffield Institute. My little Hay Lin became a professional artist and an art professor at Heatherfield Community College. As for Princess Natalya, no one knows where she disappeared to. I was sitting in my room, remembering the night the girls came home with smiles on their faces as big as China. They were exhausted, but they were happy. It was also the last day I saw any of them.

_**Flashback**_

_The six Guardians walked down the stairs to W.I.T.C.H. HQ._

"_God, I am so tired." Cornelia said._

"_That makes five of us, Corny." Irma said._

"_You know, I think I'm starting to like that nickname." Cornelia said. "Maybe because I'm tired and I wanna go to sleep."_

"_Wow, who are you and what have you done with Cornelia?" Will and Taranee said. The girls all laughed as I walked in._

"_What's so funny?" I asked._

"_Nothing Grandma. We're just tired and silly." Hay Lin said. The girls all laughed again but then got a serious expression._

"_What's gonna happen to the Guardians now that Nerissa is gone?" Natalya asked. I stayed silent._

"_Maybe it's time we disband. You know, act as normal teenagers." Cornelia said._

"_Maybe it is time. But tonight, we CELEBRATE!" Irma said. The next morning, the young Guardians went their separate ways._

I smiled as I remembered the thought.

"I just wish that I would have some contact with them." I said aloud. As if someone heard what I said, the Heart of Kandrakar and the Crest of Kandrakar, which Will and Natalya gave to me to give to the Oracle, began to glow like a light bulb. I looked at the two necklaces as they turned black then back to their original colors. "Oh no." Then, a purple portal formed in my room. I was being summoned to Kandrakar. I went through the portal and onto the beautiful palace. Standing in front of me was the Oracle and the other members of the Council.

"Welcome Yan Lin." The Oracle said.

"Hello Oracle. It's good to see you, but I wish it was on happier terms." I said.

"What do you mean?" Halinor demanded.

"I mean our worst fear has come true." I said as the Council all gasped.

"That's impossible, Yannie. We sealed her up." Halinor said.

"Nerissa escaped." Luba said.

"I really hoped that this Generation of Guardians didn't have to go through this. But alas, it is the way it is." The Oracle said sadly.

"We need W.I.T.C.H. and Princess Natalya." Halinor said desperately.

"How are we going to find them? The Aurameres have been inactive for a year now." Luba said.

"They are still Guardians; therefore I can sense where they are." The Oracle said. We all remained silent so the Oracle could concentrate. After several minutes, the Oracle spoke. "I have found five of six Guardians."

"Who did you find?" Halinor asked.

"I have found all of W.I.T.C.H."

"Where are they? I will personally get them." Said Halinor.

"No need, I already know where they are." I said smiling.

"Where?"

"Will is in her hometown of Fadden Hills. Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin are in Heatherfield."

"Ok, so we have W.I.T.C.H. Now all we need is Princess Natalya. That should be easy." Luba said.

"Easier said than done, dear Luba. Natalya has found a way to block her Energy Force and she's too far away from Heatherfield and Kandrakar to break through the spell."

"You would think that Princess Natalya would be with Princess Will, considering that they are sisters." Halinor said. The Oracle froze for he was in deep concentration.

"I have found Natalya. She's in Heatherfield with all of the other Guardians, or at least they are all walking towards each other and the don't know it, but they're all going to the Silver Dragon." The Oracle said, opening a portal for me. I walked through and was back in my room.

_Oh dear._ I thought. I could sense that all of W.I.T.C.H. was in W.I.T.C.H. HQ. Kinda figured that's where they were going. I grabbed the Heart and the Crest and walked downstairs to the basement. When I got there, I was instantly addressed.

"Grandma!" Hay Lin said, giving me a hug.

"Hi Mrs. Lin." Everyone else said. We all talked for a while. The girls all talked about their jobs and what they do for a living. I looked over at Will and saw a sad expression on her face.

"Will, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Mrs. Lin, I was just hoping to see Nattie. None of us has had any contact with her in a year." They all got a little sad when suddenly we heard a familiar voice.

"I'm glad someone misses me." We all looked over at the door and saw none other than Princess Natalya herself. I must say, she looked a little different. Last I knew her hair was past her shoulders and she had colored highlights and she worn a plain purple tank top with sky blue jeans. Now her hair was once again shoulder length and her highlights were gone. She now wore a purple camouflage tank top with blue jeans that were two shades darker and she now wore dog tags around her neck.

"Nattie!" W.I.T.C.H. exclaimed. They all gave her a big hug.

"Where have you been?" Will said.

"And why haven't you answered any of our calls?" Cornelia asked.

"In all of honesty here, the reason none of you had contact with me or even knew where I was is because I joined your world's military. I joined the Marine Corps." Natalya said. All of W.I.T.C.H. became sad again.

"Does this mean you're leaving again?" Hay Lin asked.

"Umm, well, no. I've been discharged for disobeying orders."

"Tell us the story." Irma said. The Heart and Crest began to glow again.

"Maybe later girls, we have important business to discuss." I said.

"What about, Mrs. Lin?" Taranee asked. Just then, a purple portal opened for the second time of the day.

"Come with me." I said, walking through the portal.

**Here it is my peeps and peepettes, Chapter 1 of Warriors in Shadows, which is the sequel to The Princess of Kandrakar. So, who is it that escaped that has Yan Lin, the Oracle and the Council so worried? I guess you're gonna have to keep reading. 'Till then. ^_^**


	2. The Return to Kandrakar

**Hello my Peeps and Peepettes! How did ya like the first chapter? If ya liked it, you win a prize: Chapter 2 of Warriors in Shadows! Lol, wow, I'm more tired than I thought I was. Anyhoo, I'm just gonna end this Authoress's Note.**

****Disclaimer: You should know by now that I only own Princess Natalya and the Crest of Kandrakar****

**Title: Warriors in Shadows**

**Chapter 2: The Return to Kandrakar**

**Will's POV**

The girls and I follow Mrs. Lin through the portal onto Kandrakar. I wonder what's going on. I mean, there can't be anything going on. Everything has been peaceful for the past year and besides, I have my own job to concentrate on. I don't have time to be a Guardian. I walked out of the portal and onto the familiar world of Kandrakar.

"Wow, it's been a long time since we were on Kandrakar." I said.

"Yeah Will. The place is still breath-taking, isn't it?" Hay Lin said.

"Welcome back, Guardians. Come, we have much to talk about." The Oracle said.

We all followed the Oracle and Mrs. Lin down a long corridor. I looked around the hallway. I've never been through here. I slowed my walking down so that I was at the same speed as Nattie.

"Nattie, where is the Oracle taking us?" I whispered.

"The palace has a special room for the Guardians. The Oracle takes the Guardians there when he has something to show them. If I had to guess, that's where he's taking us." She whispered back. All of a sudden, this HUGE door came into view. The Oracle looked at Nattie and motioned for her.

"Natalya, would you please come here?" the Oracle asked politely. Nattie nodded and walked forward. Then he looked at me. "You too, Will." I walked beside my sister. We were almost to the door when Yan Lin stopped us.

"Girls, I think you might need these." She said, tossing us two pendants. Natalya and I each caught one. We looked at them. In Nattie's hand was the Crest and in mine was the Heart. We both laughed and traded pendants. We walked back towards the door and faced the Oracle.

"Girls, beyond this door is the Guardian Sanctuary. It is a peaceful place where the Guardians can meditate, think of strategies, you know, all that stuff." The Oracle said.

"So basically this is like an HQ?" Taranee asked.

"In a way, yes." The Oracle replied. "Now, to open this door, you have to have Natalya or Will with you, for the door can only be opened by the Heart and the Crest."

"So, lets say that I was injured and couldn't open the door because I was on Earth, Will would be able to open it, right?" Natalya asked.

"Right and vice versa rules apply as well. One more thing, both of you can open the door at the same time as well." Mrs. Lin said.

"Wow this is confusing." I heard Irma say.

"Don't worry, Nattie and I understand the concept." I said as Nattie nodded.

"Ok, Will, Natalya, hold the Heart and the Crest up to the door and say 'Entrayix'" the Oracle told us.

"Entrayix." We half said, half whispered. At first, nothing happened. Irma was about to say something smart when there was a slight rumbling sound.

"Umm, I think one of you two needs to eat something." Irma said to Nattie and me. I was about to say something when the door opened. There was a blinding white light as the door opened, gradually fading, revealing a beautiful light purple room. One wall had the symbols of the six elements on it. Another wall had a digital map of every world in Metamoor, including Earth. The furniture was black. We were all in awe, even Natalya was speechless.

"Wow, this is for the Guardians?" Cornelia asked. The Oracle smiled and nodded his head in affirmation. He extended his hand as a gesture to go in. Cornelia was the first one to go in, followed by Irma and the others, making Nattie and I the last ones to enter. The door closed behind us.

"Take a seat, we have much to discuss." Mrs. Lin said. We all obeyed and sat down.

"I know that the past twelve months have been peaceful to all of you and I'm sure you're enjoying your time off as Guardians." The Oracle began.

"Unless you are in the Marine Corps, then you're stuck being yelled at every ten seconds." Natalya said with a skeptic expression. Everyone except the Oracle laughed. We all looked back at the Oracle and instantly stopped laughing. It's a good thing the Oracle has a sense of humor, because he just smiled.

"Anyway, I'm sorry to say, but you six need to accept your responsibilities as Guardians once again. Even as we speak, a new threat is rising."

"Who exactly is this 'new threat'?" Taranee asked, putting air quotes around 'new threat'. This seemed to keep the Oracle silent.

"How do I say this without scaring you?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Do you know all we've been through in the four years as Guardians?" Hay Lin asked, surprised that the Oracle said that.

"Yeah, we have been in Phobos's castle, which is scary enough…" I said.

"We were trapped in a spider habitat…" Cornelia continued, shuddering.

"Anyone remember Corny's bedtime story for Lillian?" Irma said. We all laughed again.

"Oracle, you have trained me not to fear anything ever since I was old enough to fight and from what I heard, it seems like W.I.T.C.H. aren't afraid of anything anymore. In a sense, we are all immune to fear." Natalya said with a bright smile. The Oracle looked like he wanted to say something, but Mrs. Lin spoke before he could say anything.

"She's right. They all have been through a lot. At this point, nothing can scare them." Yan Lin said laughing.

"You're right, Yan Lin." The Oracle said as he looked back at us. "I can't tell you everything right now, but I can tell you is that that you girls must defeat a Shadow Warrior before she has a chance to take over all of the Dimensions."

"Shadow Warrior?" I asked. The Oracle nodded. Then Yan Lin spoke up.

"The Guardians are Warriors too. Elemental Warriors if you will. Will is the Quintessence Warrior. Irma is the Water Warrior and so on. When I was a Guardian, we had to face the Shadow Warrior. The Shadow Warrior's sole purpose is not only to take the Guardian's powers, but to take the Heart and Crest as well."

"But I thought the Heart and the Crest couldn't be taken by force?" Taranee asked.

"The Shadow Warrior doesn't follow the rules when it comes to gaining power. The Shadow Warrior has ways of taking the Heart and the Crest by force. You must not let this happen, otherwise, the end of all we know is inevitable." The Oracle said quietly.

"I have just one question: who is the Shadow Warrior?" Hay Lin asked.

"All will be revealed in time, but for now, you must go back to your world and rest." The Oracle said. We all nodded as Nattie and I opened a fold back to Heatherfield. All of us ended up staying the night at the Silver Dragon. As I fell asleep, I thought back to what the Oracle said.

_[You must not let this happen, otherwise, the end of all we know is inevitable.]_ Just the thought of what he meant by that was enough to send a cold chill down my spine.

I thought back to the part of the conversation where the Oracle said that he couldn't tell us everything about the Shadow Warrior.

_Couldn't… Or wouldn't?_ I thought as I fell asleep.

**Hey! I'm sorry for the long wait. I had so many storylines for this chapter that I couldn't decide which one I liked the best and my little brother didn't make it easier. All he did was give me **_**another**_** storyline that I liked. Grrr, sometimes he can be a pain in the butt. Lol. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. 'Till then. ^_^**


	3. Nattie's Dream

**Hello! I'm not sure the next time I'm goin' to update with my teachers giving my peers and I extra homework to prepare for our PSSA tests, which suck btw, and my birthday is coming up in a few days, (March 3****rd**** to be exact XD) which may be the busiest day 'cause of my little bro's school band concert and volleyball tryouts, which are around the same time. *sigh* Anyway, back to the subject at hand: Chapter 3 of Warriors in Shadows.**

**Title: Warriors in Shadows**

**Chapter 3: Nattie's Dream**

**Natalya's POV**

_I walked into a dark room. I shuffled around in search for a light switch. I kept running into things like a desk and a table. I sighed in frustrated. I leaned against a wall and laid my head back and closed my eyes for a moment. I stood in silence when all of a sudden, I heard a familiar girl scream. Naturally, I jumped. I scanned the pitch black room._

"_Fire." I whispered as a small fire ball formed in my hand. The dark room turned bright orange. I scanned the room again and saw a girl dressed in a black shirt and blue jeans._

"_Hello Princess Natalya." The girl said quietly. I stood there, stunned._

"_How do you know who I am?" I said. The girl didn't answer. Instead, she wore this creepy smile on her face. I heard another scream. I started to walk towards the origin of the scream. The girl grabbed my wrist and stopped me. The fire ball started to get smaller. My power was being drained. I tried pulling away from the girl, only for her to tighten her grip on my wrist. "Hey, let go of me!"_

"_Princess, you can't help your friend." _

"_Friend? Which friend?" I asked. The girl's smile became creepier. _

"_Let me give you a hint." She said as water poured from the wall I was leaning on. Then it hit me. _

"_Irma." I said, bringing my voice down to a whisper. I tried to escape the girl's grip again, only to have the girl to tighten her grip on me again. This time, there was a burning feeling on my wrist. The fire ball went out and the burning feeling became more intense. I tried to run, but something raked across my bare arm for I was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt. _

"Ahh!" I woke up in the middle of the night screaming.

"Nattie, Nattie are you ok?" Will said.

"I-I'm fine." I said weakly. My arm and my wrist felt like it was on fire. Sweat was pouring down my face, soaking my red hair. Blood was running down my arm.

"Oh my God, someone get the First Aid kit!" Hay Lin exclaimed as Taranee ran out.

"What happened Nattie? Why did you scream like that?" Irma asked, walking into the room.

"Irma, you're ok!" I said, jumping up.

"Umm, why wouldn't I be?" She said. Will walked over to my side and sat next to me.

"Nattie, what's got you so worked up?" Will asked as Hay Lin put a bandage on my arm.

"Just a bad dream that's all." I said, wincing in pain as Hay tightened the bandage.

"Unless you did this to your arm and wrist when you were sleeping, I don't think it was just a dream." Cornelia said.

"What happened to her wrist?" Will said, lifting my wrist up and spotting the red mark on it. Taranee came over and inspected it.

"Natalya, how did you burn your wrist?" Taranee asked.

"What happened in your dream? What was it about?" Irma asked, sitting down next to me with Will on the other side of me. Taranee and Cornelia sat next to Hay Lin, who was using her healing abilities on my wrist. I took a deep breath and told them about the dream.

"Well, I was in this dark room when I heard a girl scream. I couldn't find a light switch, so I made a fire ball. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw this girl."

"What was she wearing?" Cornelia asked.

"Corny!" Irma scolded.

"She was wearing a plain black t-shirt and jeans. She seemed to know who I was, but I don't know her, at least I don't think I do." I said.

"What else happened?" Will asked.

"I heard the same scream again. I tried to go towards where the scream came from, the girl grabbed my wrist, causing my fire ball to dim away, which could only mean my power was being drained." I paused and tried to make a fire ball. I made one. It was small, but then again I was very weak at the moment. "My Fire power is the only Element that is weak. My Water, Air, Earth, and Energy powers are all fine."

"Doesn't that mean that your Super Attack isn't as strong as it normally is?" Hay Lin asked as the burning in my wrist went away. "There, all better!" I moved my wrist around and didn't feel any pain.

"Thanks Hay." I said, ignoring her question. In all of honesty, Storm Shock, which is the sixth Element, which is a combination of W.I.T.C.H.'s powers, does get weaker. And that's bad especially for me because that's my power.

"What happened after that?" Irma asked this time.

"The girl said that I couldn't save one of you. I asked her which of you and water started pouring down onto me, instantly telling me that it was Irma. I tried escaping from the girl's grip as the fire ball went out, only to have her burn my wrist and scratch my arm." I said, looking at my now-bandaged arm. "And that's when I woke up."

"Nattie, are you ok?" Taranee asked me.

"No, I'm not. Irma needed me and I couldn't be there to protect her." I said, slamming my fist down onto a nearby table, which was a big mistake because that arm was the one with the bandage. "Ahh, what the—" I let out a volley of colorful words because I was in that much pain.

"Wow Nattie, I didn't know you could use that many swear words in one sentence, let alone in a different language." Cornelia said who was talking about the language of Kandrakar that I was speaking in.

"Girls, remember when we had these kind of dreams when we were fighting Nerissa. You know, before we had the help of Natalya?" Taranee asked as the other member of W.I.T.C.H. nodded. "Nerissa knew we were on to her." She continued.

"What do you mean, Taranee?" Will asked.

"I mean, what if the Shadow Warrior knows we're on to her? Just think, in Natalya's dream, that girl ultimately takes Natalya's Fire power away and burns her wrist. What if that girl was the Shadow Warrior?" We were all shocked. We never thought of that.

"How possible is that of happening?" Irma asked, causing everyone to look at me.

"If I were to guess, it's very possible for it to happen. If Nerissa found a way to make it possible, then the Shadow Warrior can as well." I said.

"What do you mean 'if you were to guess'?" Cornelia said harshly.

"Hey, I'm trying to help you guys out. I only know as much about the Shadow Warrior as you five." I said defensively.

"C'mon, lets talk about in the morning. It's the middle of the night and we're all tired and cranky. Lets just get back to sleep and we'll go to Kandrakar in the morning." Will said.

"Agreed." The rest of us replied and went back to bed. I laid back down on my bed, careful not to lay on my injured arm.

_Who is this girl and how in Kandrakar's name does she know me? Is it like Taranee suggested? Is she the Shadow Warrior?_ I thought as I looked out the window and gazed at the stars.

**And…Done. Lol. So again, just wanted to get this updated before March 3****rd**** 'cause my b-day is goin' to b-busy. And if I make the volleyball team, I don't know how often I will be able to update. So, I'll let you guys/girls know what's goin' on when I find out. Sound good? 'Till then. ^_^**


	4. New Girl

**Hello people! I officially made the volleyball team. I am also risking getting caught 'cause I'm supposed be sleeping. But I have to update this story. I'm juggling two other stories along with this one and it's time to update it!**

**Title: Warriors in Shadows**

**Chapter 4: New Girl**

**Will's POV**

Two weeks have passed since Nattie's weird dream and the past three days have been busier than ever, considering that the girls and I got jobs at the Silver Dragon and its Independence Day weekend. Finally, it was closing time. I locked the doors and switched the sign so it said "closed". Yan Lin was at Kandrakar, Hay Lin's parents were out of town, and all of the cooks and other staff went home.

"Ok guys, the coast is clear." Cornelia said. Hay Lin had this guilty look on her face.

"I don't think we should do this. Nattie won't approve of this and it's abusing our powers. Why can't we get the chores done as humans?" Hay Lin asked.

"You're right, I don't approve." Nattie said, blowing a newly highlighted strand of hair out of her face. Seven days earlier, Cornelia took Nattie to the hair stylist to get her purple and blue highlights redone.

"It's only a couple of chores." Irma said.

"Maybe Hay's right. What if someone catches us in Guardian form?" I asked.

"Can Hay Lin and I at least use our powers for the dishes?" Nattie sighed and nodded as I transformed them. Within five minutes, Irma and Hay Lin were done with dishes. I transformed them back to normal when suddenly, there was a scream coming from outside.

"What was that?" Taranee said.

"I don't know and frankly, I don't wanna find out." Cornelia said as Nattie walked towards the door. "Nattie, are you crazy? Get back here!" Nattie ignored Cornelia and opened the doors. There on the ground was girl about Nattie's age laying there unconscious.

"Oh my God! Someone help me bring her in!" Nattie exclaimed with a hint of desperation in her voice. Hay Lin walked over and helped Nattie bring the girl in and took her downstairs. Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and I followed them downstairs after relocking the doors.

"Nattie, who is this girl? Why are we helping her?" Cornelia asked as Nattie pulled a blanket over the girl. Before Nattie could answer, the girl started to move.

"She's waking up." I said. The girl's eyes opened and she started looking around the room, suddenly looking terrified.

"Who are you and where am I?" the girl said, panicking.

"C'mon, you know who I am." Nattie said to the girl. The girl looked at Nattie for a few minutes then looked like she had a flashback.

"N-Natalya? Is that really you?" The girl asked.

"Hey Kayla." Nattie said with a bright smile. The girl named Kayla looked at Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay Lin and I.

"Nattie, who is this girl?" Taranee asked.

"Guys, this is Kayla. She used to live on Kandrakar with me, the Oracle, and the Council." Nattie said. "Kayla, there are my friends Irma, Cornelia, Hay Lin and Taranee and this is my sister, Will."

"Are you the Guardians?" Kayla asked. Nattie was about to answer, but Taranee and I pulled her out of Kayla's earshot.

"Nattie, are you sure it's a good idea to tell her we're the Guardians?" I asked.

"Yeah Natalya, it could be risky." Taranee agreed.

"Would you guys relax? Kayla is not the Shadow Warrior. I grew up with her. She doesn't even have magic." Nattie said.

"Ok, we can tell her." I said against Taranee's objections. All three of us walked back into the room where Kayla was. Nattie told Kayla all about us and all of our adventures with Nerissa and even who has what power. Irma, the others, and I left the room so Kayla and Nattie could catch up. When I went down to check on them an hour later, they were fast asleep. I smiled and went back upstairs to talk with Yan Lin, who had been home for nearly an hour and a half now. We were all talking about Kayla and how she arrived. Hay Lin convinced Mrs. Lin to let Kayla stay for a while and even hire her as an employee at the Silver Dragon. We finally went to bed around 12:30 AM. As I slipped into my bed, I thought about all that has happened tonight.

_I'm glad Nattie has found one of her friends, but why do I have a strange feeling that there's more to Kayla that she's even hiding from Nattie?_

**I know short chapter. Love me, hate me, I don't care. So Natalya has found her friend Kayla. How did she end up unconscious at the doors of the Silver Dragon? Could Will be right about Kayla hiding something? Read the next chapter to find out. 'Till then. ^_^**


	5. Missing Water

**Hello everyone. I'm sorry that's it's been a week or so since I updated. I've been busy with volleyball and I started my PSSAs, which are a pain in the ace. l=/ I promise I will update whenever possible. I swear on the Power of Kandrakar. Lol. XD. Anyhoo, on with the story.**

**Title: Warriors in Shadows**

**Chapter 5: Missing Water**

**Hay Lin's POV**

Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and I were getting ready to open the restaurant up for the day. Grandma went back to Kandrakar and my parents weren't going to be back until Monday. I swept the floor and then looked at my friends.

"Hey, has anyone seen Nattie and her friend, oh what's her name, Kayleigh?" Will asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's Kay_la_, and don't be surprised if they don't show up. They stayed up all night giggling and laughing." Cornelia grumbled. She laid her head down on one of the empty tables.

"Awe, was Corny deprived of her beauty sleep?" Irma antagonized as Nattie and Kayla walked in. Will walked up to Nattie.

"Natalya, you are late. Where on God's green Earth you been?" Will interrogated the young red head.

"Will, relax, I was showing Kayla around and we lost track of time." Nattie said calmly.

"Where exactly did you show Kayleigh?" Will asked.

"Umm, it's Kayla." Kayla said quietly.

"And I was just showing her around our HQ. Nothing to worry about." Nattie said. Will was about to say something until Taranee interjected.

"People are going to coming in soon. Shouldn't we get Kayla a uniform?" Taranee stated. Natalya nodded and led Kayla off to get a uniform. Will just stood there staring at the doorway.

"Will, are you ok?" I asked.

"I don't trust this Kayla character." Will simply said.

"Kayla seems like a sweet girl." I said.

"Keyword being 'seems'. We know nothing about her and she won't tell anyone anything with the exception of Natalya." Will said.

"What are you saying?" Irma asked, confused.

"I'm saying that we should spy on Kayla."

**Meanwhile with Natalya and Kayla – Normal POV**

"Nattie, it's so good to see you again." Kayla said.

"Same goes here. Where have you been the last seven years?" Natalya said. Kayla remained silent and looked down at the floor. "Kay, what's wrong? Was it something I said?"

"No, it wasn't you, Nattie. I just…don't really like talking about it." Kayla said.

"How about we just drop the subject." Nattie said as she handed Kayla a uniform. Kayla nodded as Natalya took Kayla's hand. "C'mon, we had better get back up there before Will freaks out again." Kayla nodded again and followed Natalya back upstairs to the others.

**One Week Later – Cornelia's POV**

One week has passed since me, Will and the others decided to spy on Kayla, excluding Nattie, of course. Actually, Nattie can't find out, so, this whole thing is like a game. Anyway, we were all by the river waiting for Nattie and Kayla so our training session could begin. After about ten minutes of waiting, Nattie and Kayla came running into view.

"Natalya, what's wrong?" Taranee asked.

"Something…Is…" was all Nattie managed to say before she stopped to catch her breath.

"What Nattie is trying to say is that there's something attacking the city!" Kayla finished. Nattie nodded as we all looked at her for confirmation. Natalya stood up and took out the Heart.

"Guardian's Unite!" she said as we all transformed, excluding Kayla. When we landed, Kayla was nowhere to be found. We assumed that she went to a safe place and took to the sky. We didn't have to fly very far to see a black phoenix type beast attacking downtown Heatherfield.

"Lets go!" Will shouted as we flew behind her. When we finally approached the beast, it instantly spotted us and tried to swat us away like flies.

"Natalya, what is this thing?" I asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Natalya responded.

"Well, you _are_ our resident expert on creatures of Metamoor." Irma said.

"Just because I grew up on Kandrakar doesn't mean I know everything of every…Look out!" Natalya exclaimed as the beast made another attempt to knock us out of the air.

"We need to contain it so it doesn't hurt anyone." Hay Lin said.

"Hay's right. Irma, Hay Lin, Taranee, try to weaken it from the sky. Will, Cornelia, come with me. We are going to try to weaken it from the ground." Natalya said. We split up and flew in different directions. Will, Natalya and I landed on the ground and looked up.

"You know, this thing looked smaller from the air." Will said. The three of us continued to look up.

"Something tells me that we are going to need a lot of Earth." I mumbled. We saw Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin attack the beast.

"Cornelia, quick, while it's distracted, help me make a cage from Earth. Then when we complete that, help me levitate some metal onto the cage. That way, Will and I can charge up the metal to make…"

"An electric cage!" Will and I exclaimed. Nattie and I began to form an Earth cage. We got halfway done with the cage when Irma called for help. We looked up and saw that Irma's power was weakening.

"Irma's losing her powers. Her magic is being drained!" Natalya said.

"But the thing isn't touching her." I said.

"Maybe it doesn't have to. Maybe it belongs to the Shadow Warrior, making it able to drain our powers one by one!" Will said.

"Natalya, come back here!" I exclaimed as Natalya raced towards Irma. She grabbed Irma's hand and extended her own arm.

"Water!" they both shouted. They attacked the beast, but then it blew a black cloud of smoke around us all.

"Hay Lin, can you clear this." Taranee and Natalya said between coughs. Hay Lin quickly made a hurricane and cleared the smoke. Taranee and Natalya collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. Actually, Natalya was on the verge of just collapsing period. She struggled to support herself from falling on her face.

"Taranee, Nattie, are you two ok?" Hay Lin asked as Kayla came running back.

"Just fine. With all of that smoke, it took away a lot of oxygen, which Natalya and I need for our Fire powers to work." Taranee said, standing up and walking towards us. We waited for Nattie to get up too, but she didn't move.

"Nattie, are you ok?" Will said, kneeling beside her little sister as she transformed into her human form.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I'm drained of power for the moment. Not only did that smoke almost kill me, it drained almost all of my energy." Natalya said quietly.

"You just need to sleep, that's all." Will said. Natalya looked up and around. Then she said two words that made all of our hearts stop.

"Where's Irma?"

**Dun, dun, duuuunnn! Yeah buddy, this is getting good! So where is Irma? Where do you think Kayla was during all of this? I would love to hear your ideas on where Kayla was during the battle. Again, I will try to update as soon as possible. Right now with my schedule, I'm surprised I had time to finish this. 'Till then. ^_^**


	6. Realization

**Hey! I'm goin' to update this so none of you think that I'm dead. Lexvan, you have some pretty good guesses. Onward with the story!**

**Title: Warriors in Shadows**

**Chapter 6: Realization**

**Guardian HQ – Kandrakar – Natalya's POV**

I stood in front of the map of Metamoor and Earth trying to find Irma. One week ago, Irma was kidnapped by Lord knows what and the others and I have no idea where she is. I struggled to keep my eyes open, for I haven't slept in 48 plus hours, as I continued to stare at the two maps.

_Come on, Irma. Where are you?_ I thought silently, oblivious to the fact that Kayla walked in the room.

"Hey Nattie." Kayla said as I nearly hit the very high ceiling.

"Jeezus Kayla, don't scare me like that. How'd you even get in here? I locked the door behind me." I said, holding my hand where my heart is.

"Uh, the Oracle let me in." Kayla said hesitantly.

"Ah." I said, looking back at the maps.

"Are you still looking for Irma?" I nodded.

"I still can't find her Life Force. Why are you in here? I thought you were on Earth sleeping. It's noon here, which means it's like 3 AM in Heatherfield right now."

"Well, Will and I got into an argument. She's got this…Crazy theory that I'm associated with the Shadow Warrior and that I'm the reason that Irma's missing. So I came here to Kandrakar. If I'd known that you were here, I would've come here in the first place to avoid the argument." Kayla said. I stood up and gave her a hug.

"Don't worry. Will wasn't too thrilled when I first showed up either. Actually, Will was corrupted by Nerissa and helped Nerissa try to kill me." I told Kayla, her eyes as wide as saucers, and thought back to a year ago when Nerissa convinced Will to turn against me. Not that she was on my side to begin with at the time.

"You fought _Nerissa_!" Kayla exclaimed. I nodded and then yawned. "You should sleep." Kayla then put her hand on my shoulder. She squeezed lightly and I felt a warm, comforting surge of magic run through my body. Magic other than my own. I started to feel really weak and leaned against the wall.

_Wait a minute, Kayla doesn't have…_ I couldn't finish the thought.

**Heatherfield – Hay Lin's POV**

Will, Taranee, Cornelia and I woke up on a bright Saturday morning. We all said "good morning" to each other and got ready for our picnic we planned for two weeks now. After about an hour, we all met down in the kitchen.

"Hey, has anyone seen Nattie? She's not in her room or W.I.T.C.H. HQ." Will stated as she entered the kitchen.

"I think she said something about going to Kandrakar to see if she could find anything on Irma's whereabouts." Kayla said as she walked in the room. Will glared at the black-haired girl.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is none of your business." Will snapped.

"Will, take it easy." Cornelia said. Will took a deep breath and a step back.

"I'm sorry. It's just that this whole Shadow Warrior thing has me beating myself up. I think that the Shadow Warrior is after Nattie and I'm afraid that I won't be able to protect her." Will said, looking down at the floor. I walked up to her and gave her a hug.

"Don't worry about it, Will. Natalya is tough. She can handle herself." I said.

"I know but—" Will started.

"But nothing. Just think of it this way. If you're stressed about protecting _her_, just think how stressed Nattie is about protecting _us_. After losing Irma, Nattie has been doing all she can to protect us, find Irma, _and_ discover who the Shadow Warrior is." Taranee said.

"I guess you're right. C'mon, we better get to the park." Will said. We all smiled and walked out the door and about fifteen minutes later, we were all sitting beneath a shady oak tree eating sandwiches and soda, laughing about some of the crazy adventures we've had as Guardians. We were about to play a game of Frisbee, which I am excellent at by the way, when we heard a scream for help. Just then, a girl ran by where we were.

"Will, you guys need to get out of here. There's a giant bird attacking the city!" Alchemy exclaimed as she ran off. Replacing itself where Alchemy was standing, the giant bird stood in front of us, almost daring us to make a move.

"Will, that's the phoenix that took Irma!" Kayla exclaimed.

"No dip, Sherlock." Will snapped again. "Guardians Unite!" Will continued as she pulled out the Crest of Kandrakar.

"Fire!"

"Earth!"

"Air!"

"Quintessence!"

Will, Taranee, Cornelia and I finished our transformation and looked up at the shadowy beast.

"Will, what are we going to do without Natalya? Cornelia asked.

"I know what I'm going to do: Stay out of its way when it blows that smoke." Taranee said.

"We are going to have to cope without Nattie for now. Corny, Taranee, think of a way to contain it. Hay, come with me to make the diversion." Will instructed. We all nodded and flew off.

"Quintessence!" Will exclaimed, hitting the phoenix beast with a lightning ball. Then it was my turn.

"Alright beasty, get ready for Hurricane Hay Lin!" I said, spinning around until I was a tornado and moved toward the beast. When I wasn't expecting it, the phoenix hit me with its wing and knocked me into an oak tree.

"Hay Lin, are you ok?" Will asked as she kneeled beside me.

"I think I was downgraded to a tropical breeze." I muttered, holding my head. The phoenix saw Taranee and Cornelia and knocked them to where Will and I were.

"Well, that hurt." Taranee said, rubbing her shoulder. Kayla ran over and pulled me onto my feet.

"Hay Lin, are you ok?" Kayla asked, her hands still on my shoulders. I started to feel light-headed. I was getting too weak to talk, so I shook my head no. I fell to my knees and transformed back. Will, Cornelia and Taranee flew to my side. The beast stomped towards us and when Will was going to attack it, Kayla touched Will's shoulder and told her to stay still. The scary part is that Will listened to Kayla! The beast got closer and closer to us and when it was going to attack us, it was knocked back by 1,000 watts of lightning. We all looked at Will.

"Hey, don't look at me. I'm too weak to do that." Will said defensively. Then, we looked up and saw none other than Princess Natalya herself.

"Girls, get away from Kayla!" Nattie said. As soon as those words came out of her mouth, we instantly moved. Nattie landed on the ground and Kayla ran up to her.

"Nattie, what's going on with you?" Kayla said.

"Don't play innocent, Kayla. The Oracle told me everything. You know, after he prevented me from _dying_ because you decided to knock me out and drain my magic. I trusted you, Kayla." Nattie said.

"Nattie, what are you saying here?" I said, finally getting the strength to stand.

_Must be because Natalya's here with the Heart._ I thought, trying to come up with an explanation on why I was able to stand.

"Kayla is the Shadow Warrior."

**That concludes yet another chapter. So Kayla is the Shadow Warrior. What does that mean for the Guardians, specifically Natalya? Where is Irma and will the Guardians find her? Stay tuned for the next chapter. 'Till then. ^_^**


	7. Explanation

_**Previously in Warriors in Shadows**_

"_Girls, get away from Kayla!" Nattie said._

"_Nattie, what's going on with you?" Kayla said._

"_Don't play innocent, Kayla. The Oracle told me everything. You know, after he prevented me from dying because you decided to knock me out and drain my magic. I trusted you, Kayla." Nattie said._

"_Nattie, what are you saying here?" Will said, confused._

"_Kayla is the Shadow Warrior."_

**Title: Warriors in Shadows**

**Chapter 7: Explanation **

**Cornelia's POV**

Every one of us just stood there watching Natalya and Kayla. Kayla started laughing. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't the ha-ha kind of laugh.

"It's about time you figured it out. I was beginning to run out of ideas." Kayla said darkly as she continued to stare at Natalya.

"Ideas for what?" Taranee whispered.

"Why are you doing this, Kayla?" Nattie asked.

"Why am I doing this? Natalya, do you know where I was for all those years?" Kayla yelled.

"No I don't and I'm starting to think that it doesn't matter." Natalya said, getting into her fighting stance.

"C'mon!" I said as Will, Taranee, Hay Lin and I flew beside Natalya.

"You _seriously_ want to fight me?" Kayla said. Then she shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, it's your life. I won't need this." She turned around and made the phoenix disappear. None of us moved. None of us spoke. All six of us just stood there, daring one another to make the first move. I glanced at Natalya. Taranee was beside her and from what I could tell; they were talking to each other via their thoughts.

"Fire!" Taranee yelled. Kayla absorbed the attack before it had a chance to hit her.

"Shadow Fire!" Kayla yelled, knocking Taranee back and possibly out. Hay Lin went to attack Kayla only to have the same thing happen to her. Will and I ran to Taranee and hay Lin.

"They're unconscious." I said.

"Will, Cornelia watch out!" Nattie shouted. We became entrapped by shadows.

"Those are Shadow Chains. They immobilize your body _and_ your powers." Kayla said. Nattie went to throw an Energy ball at Kayla, but Kayla turned around and hit Nattie instead. Nattie fell to the ground.

"Nattie!" Will exclaimed. I looked over at her and saw her struggling to free herself. She looked like she was in pain after a few minutes.

"Will, please don't struggle. Shadow Chains get tighter the more you struggle. I'll get you guys out." Natalya said. She tried getting to her feet, but Kayla shot her down again.

"Princess, it's better for you if you just stay down." Kayla spat as Nattie made a second attempt to get up. Taranee and Hay Lin finally woke up, a little frightened by being in Shadow Chains.

"Kayla, why? Why are you doing this?" Natalya said her voice barely a whisper.

"Do you _really_ want to know why I'm doing this, Princess?" Kayla said, clenching her fists. Nattie simply nodded as she sat on her knees. "I'll tell you why. My first reason is the Oracle. The Oracle ruined my life when he sent me to the Abyss of Darkness."

"Why did he send you to the Abyss of Darkness? Only the dimension's worst criminals get sent there if and when they're too dangerous to keep in Meridian." Natalya countered.

"That's because I _am_ too dangerous to keep in Meridian. The Oracle saw who I really was. Who I really am. He didn't want to take the risk of putting the young princess in danger, so he sent me to the Abyss to keep you safe." Will and I just stared at the two. This was just a little too much.

"What's your second reason?" Will asked.

"Elemental Warriors, AKA, Guardians." Kayla said tightening the Shadow Chains around Will, Taranee, Hay Lin and I.

"Kayla stop. Those Shadow Chains are going to kill them." Nattie said, forming a fireball and threw it at Kayla, who merely swatted it away.

"You're pathetic." Kayla stated. Kayla made a black Energy ball and threw it where Natalya's heart is.

"Nattie, no!" Will screamed. Natalya transformed back and lay motionless on the grass. Kayla smiled and disappeared, taking the Shadow Chains with her. The four of us rushed to our friend's side.

"Nattie, Nattie come on wake up." Will said shaking Natalya's shoulder. Natalya didn't move and Will started crying. Just then, a purple portal opened up and the Oracle came out of it.

"Natalya." The Oracle breathed. We all looked at him.

"She won't wake up, Oracle." Hay Lin said on the verge of tears as well.

"We need to bring her back to Kandrakar. Fast." The Oracle said as he picked Nattie up. We got up as well and followed him through the portal.

**Kandrakar – Will's POV**

I opened the door to our Kandrakar HQ and followed everyone into the room. The Oracle gently laid Nattie down on the couch. Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin went home after today's events to rest. I wanted to stay with Nattie to see how she was doing. I was currently sitting with the rest of the Council because the Oracle wanted to be alone to check on Nattie's current condition. I started pacing for about five minutes when the Oracle appeared.

"How is she, Oracle?" Halinor asked.

"Princess Natalya is going to be fine. If it wasn't for the Heart of Kandrakar, she wouldn't have made it." The Oracle said quietly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Natalya's blood was absorbed into the Heart, which gave the Heart power to save her. I don't know how and I don't know why, but it did and it saved her." The Oracle said. I released a breath of relief knowing that Nattie was going to be ok.

"Kayla said that she has a problem with the Guardians, but she was mainly attacking Nattie. The only time Kayla touched me or the others was to trap us and antagonize Nattie to get Nattie to attack. What does this mean?" I asked. The Oracle looked down and sighed.

"I don't know, Will."

**Ok, how was that for a chapter? Wow, I don't have much to say today. 'Till then. ^_^**


	8. Underwater

**I'm back! Sorry for the very late update. I haven't had much time to update any of my stories. But, I'm here now, aren't I? :)**

**Title: Warriors in Shadows**

**Chapter 8: Underwater**

**Natalya's POV**

Six days after Kayla was revealed as the Shadow Warrior, myself, Will and the others continued our frantic search for Irma. Right now, the five of us were on Meridian to search for possible clues Kayla left for us on Irma's whereabouts. Cornelia was in the Palace of Meridian to talk to Queen Elyon to see if she knows anything. Taranee and Hay Lin were searching for clues inland and Will and I were searching the outer banks. Will was saying something to me, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was too busy thinking about how my "best friend" betrayed me and the Oracle and kidnapped Irma. And on top of that, I pulled another all-nighter on Kandrakar again.

"So, what do you think?" Will said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"What? Oh yeah, nice." I said quickly. Will playfully glared at me.

"You weren't paying attention, were you?" Will asked. I shook my head.

"Not really. Sorry Will." I said. Will chuckled lightly.

"It's fine, sis. I was just talking about Matt Olsen anyway." Will said, blushing lightly.

"You mean the boy that you practically drool over?" I asked teasingly, causing Will to blush harder. "Ok, so I _am_ correct." Will playfully smacked my arm and laughed. We continued flying along Lake Meridian. After a short silence, Will spoke.

"So, what were you thinking about earlier?" Will asked. Just as I was about to answer, the Heart appeared and glowed brightly. We just froze.

"Now what's this thing doing?" I muttered. I looked down at the water for a second before turning to Will. "Lets go find the others." I continued, turning to fly away, almost choking on the chain of the Heart because it didn't move.

"I guess it doesn't want you to move." Will said. I kept looking at the water and at that moment, the other Guardians showed up.

"We sensed something's wrong. Are you two ok?" Hay Lin asked.

"Yeah, we're fine." Will said. I zoned out and was in a trance, staring at the darkening water.

"Natalya, what are you staring at?" Cornelia asked, seeing the now black water. "Asked and answered." I was still staring at the water and I started to hear voices calling for help. I went down closer to the water only to be pulled back up again. The Heart stopped moving and choked me again, snapping me out of my trance and held my throat.

"Nat, are you ok? You seem out of it today." Will said. I looked at my friends and blinked.

"Voices. I heard voices. They're calling for help." I said.

"Nattie, either you need sleep or you need to be locked up in an asylum. We don't hear any voices." Cornelia said somewhat harshly. Cornelia's been a little on the moody side since Caleb went missing four days earlier. He went on a mission for us on Meridian and he never reported back.

"No, I'm serious!" I said defensively. "I heard voices. I get why the Heart won't let me go _away_ from the water. It wants me to go _in_ the water." Everyone looked at the shadowed water then to me, giving me a weird look like I was crazy. At this point, I was starting to believe it was from the lack of sleep but quickly shook the thought away.

"Nattie…" Taranee started.

"What if Irma's under there? What if Caleb's under there?" I said. "What if—" I started to say before I got a major headache. I held my held before my eyes transfixed on the water and fell into the trance again.

**Will's POV**

I flew next to Natalya to see if she was alright. I saw that she fell into that trance-like mode and tried to shake her out of it, but to no prevail. I definitely believed her. We needed to go in the black water.

"Come on, lets get out of here." Hay Lin said. Before we knew where we were going, Natalya _jumped_ into the water.

"Natalya!" we all shouted.

"We need to follow her! What if Kayla's in there? You saw the she tried to kill Nattie six days ago!" I said, severely concerned for my little sister's safety.

"Then why are we just standing, uh, flying here? Lets go!" Taranee said.

"Uh, do we have to? That water is gross!" Cornelia said. I jumped in the water after Natalya, hearing three more splashes behind me. We swam for several minutes before spotting what looks like the underwater mines. We quickly found a way in and saw that the inside was like a small palace.

"Look! There's Natalya!" Hay Lin said, pointing to the Princess. Natalya was still in her trance, following the Heart to the north side of the underwater structure. We finally caught up to her and followed her silently to the main prison cells. Nattie stopped in front of one of them and we looked inside…

**I'm gonna play Evil Enigma and cut it off right here. Heehee. XD I'll try to update more. I'm on summer break and my parents keep me away from my laptop most of the day. 'Till then!**


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